Activate Business Development Limited

24/07/2025

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀.

𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝟳 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙎𝙈𝙀𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚, 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨:

- Having no clear strategy

- Targeting “everyone” instead of a specific audience

- Ignoring email marketing

- Failing to follow up with leads

The good news? These mistakes are easy to fix once you know where the gaps are.

👉 Want to see how your marketing measures up? You can read more about this and take our Quiz here;

https://www.activatebd.co.uk/blog/the-7-common-marketing-mistakes-smes-make-and-how-to-fix-them

Jump straight to the Marketing Readiness Quiz and get instant feedback on where you can improve your marketing. Go for it!

https://steve-1ylqjrg4.scoreapp.com/

23/07/2025

Feeling overwhelmed by complex marketing strategies? 🚀

Learn how to master your campaigns with a One Page Marketing Plan using Go High Level CRM. Our newest article reveals how you can streamline your efforts, increase ROI, and stay organised, all in less time.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿:
👉 Quick and easy setup for busy professionals
👉 Defined objectives with actionable tactics
👉 Enhanced clarity and measurable outcomes

Take control of your marketing success. Dive into the full guide and unlock better campaign performance today:
https://www.activatebd.co.uk/blog/how-to-implement-your-one-page-marketing-plan-using-go-high-level

18/07/2025

🎁 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗥𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗶𝘀𝗵!

If you’re a small UK business using promotional items as part of your sales and marketing strategy, please avoid using cheap plastic items.

It might feel like a bargain to order 500 pens for £99, but if they stop working in a week or feel awful to hold, you’re doing your brand no favours.

✅ A good promo item is useful
✅ Well-made
✅ Relevant to your audience
✅ Long-lasting
✅ AND sustainable

Think branded notebooks, quality pens, reusable cups, eco-friendly bags, or even something industry-specific (like magnetic calendars for tradespeople).

Let your giveaways work for your brand, not against it. If you're unsure what to choose, I’m always happy to help. I've published a blog on 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 which you can read below..

https://www.activatebd.co.uk/blog/promotional-products-that-work-how-small-uk-businesses-can-make-better-choices

Promotional items are a staple of the marketing mix, especially for small businesses looking to stay top of mind with customers. But too often, these well-intentioned giveaways turn into landfill fodder, cheap plastic items that break, get thrown away, or worse, damage your brand reputation. So, how...

17/07/2025

Why SOSTAC® Stops You Wasting Time on Random Marketing Tactics

🚨 Stop jumping to marketing tactics.

If you’re posting, emailing, or running ads without a strategy… you’re not alone. And you’re probably frustrated.

The problem? Tactics don’t work without strategy.

That’s why I use the SOSTAC® framework — a simple structure to build a marketing plan that gets results.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀:
🧭 S – Situation: Where are you now?
🎯 O – Objectives: Where do you want to go?
🧠 S – Strategy: How will you get there?
🔧 T – Tactics: What tools will you use?
📅 A – Action: Who does what and when?
📈 C – Control: How will you measure it?

It’s tempting to skip ahead to tactics, but strategy saves time, energy, and money in the long run. You can read my blog article:

https://book.activatebd.co.uk/sp/c7242a55c90

👉 Need help putting a smarter marketing plan in place?

https://book.activatebd.co.uk/sp/e911410a79f

05/06/2024

Brilliant day at Your Business Expo in MK. Having a stand with a ‘lead magnet’ (a bottle of fine wine as a prize) helped generate 20+ leads. Thanks Rutherfords Gifts for the laser engraved wine box. Thanks also to JC3DDesign for the 3D Printed phone holders which were very popular!

20/03/2024

Great Social Media training from Samantha Cameron - Social Media Academy today. You never stop learning in

06/07/2023

To build a great website you need great images. Stock images are an easy option but they are very generic and easy to spot. Even if you’re just starting out, real photos of you, where you work and who you work with are better than stock images.

We always recommend a professional photographer like Nick Freeman who will work to a brief and take the photos the client needs for their website to deliver their core message to their target audience.

This client needs to communicate the range/quality and volume of stock ready for dispatch. Product shots are being taken in studio, these shots will confirm stock levels are high.

As the old saying goes, ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’ so how much copy could you reduce on your website with a few great photos? I’m off to Nick’s studio today for the shots I need for my new website!

08/06/2023

We’ve been helping Kettering Motorist Centre manage their Alight Media board in which is proving to be very easy! As the weather warms up we’ve been able to change the advert to a very relevant offer!

16/05/2023

Every year when I see the awards on TV, I'm reminded of the night I 'volunteered' to present an award for Good Governance at the Sustainable Film Awards held at BAFTA.

My client, The Big Trophy Shop received an enquiry to supply trophies for the night! The source of the enquiry was a tweet that I had sent out to promote trophies for corporate events. We got a free advert in the programme that night and supplied trophies for the next three years!

The moral of the story is... if you market your business to your target audience ... you will get noticed!

16/05/2023

I started out as a Marketing Consultant in 2009 when 'traditional marketing' such as leaflet campaigns, 48-sheet billboards and Yellow Pages worked well. Since then, most of our client work has been 'Digital' and totally reliant on the target audience viewing content through computers and smartphones.

However, if the target audience is very local and drives past an Alight Media digital billboard within 200m of the client, why not advertise on the board? Unlike previous 48-sheet billboard campaigns, which stayed up until they started to fall off, these digital boards can be changed during the campaign enabling several different adverts to be shown.

Will it work... we'll have to see! It's certainly driving some brand awareness and will support the 30,000 leaflet drop that starts to go out in a couple of weeks.

I love the idea of Digital and Traditional marketing coming together in this format!